Sport at Freemen’s
We put pupils first in order to achieve our objective of making them better people who participate in physical activity for life.
In order to do this we follow the 5 P’s outlined below:
PUPILS
We treat each pupil as an individual and give them the opportunity to forge their own path of physical activity to suit them. To do this we ensure our programme is broad, to enable pupils to try numerous sports, and give our pupils a choice of activity in Games for their latter years at the School, making our programme more relevant to each of our pupils.
PEOPLE
Physical activity can make pupils better people. A recent HMC study highlighted that physical activity has a positive correlation with mental toughness and well-being. These alongside numerous other psychological and sociological benefits are the underpinning reasons for physical activity in School. In PE lessons, we look to teach beyond physical literacy and sporting skills, and focus on other key life skills such as leadership, resilience, creativity, honesty, self-organisation and kindness.
PARTICIPATION
We want pupils to have a passion for physical activity so they participate in physical activity long after leaving Freemen’s. Around 90% of all pupils played in formalised fixtures in 2019-20, including 100% of Junior School pupils. The vast majority of our pupils are physically active three or more times a week and every pupil in the School is physically active at least once a week.
PROGRESSION
Each and every time a pupil takes part in Physical Activity they should be progressing. Some of this progression lower down the School may be through deliberate play. We aim to make each pupil the best they can be, whilst ensuring that each team can achieve their collective potential. In PE we aim to be progressive, by teaching key skills within a variety of activities to develop physical literacy and pupil competency in that specific activity, whilst building a passion and confidence in Physical Activity.
PERFORMANCE
Performance in a sports programme is important, but winning is not necessarily the priority. We believe in teaching via processes and, if the processes leading to the competition are correct, the score ultimately takes care of itself. Even for high performers the emphasis is on having fun, whilst progressing towards individual and team goals. We will soon be
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Sport at Freemen’s
launching a Performance Programme in the Senior School for those who represent their county or beyond, in order to develop them as sportspeople. Performance in teams can also be important, and we aim to develop this through high level coaching and mentoring, including video analysis.
WHAT SPORTS DO PUPILS PLAY AT FREEMEN’S?
YEAR 3 – YEAR 4
In addition to the sports listed below which pupils will play regular fixtures in, all pupils in Year 3 and Year 4 have practices in which they sample rugby, football, hockey and netball. In Year 6, pupils can also try boys’ hockey and girls’ touch rugby.
AUTUMN TERM
Boys - Football / Rugby
Girls - Hockey / Netball
YEAR
SPRING TERM
Boys - Rugby / Football
Girls - Netball / Hockey
7 – YEAR 10 (GAMES AND CO-CURRICULAR SPORT)
SUMMER TERM
All pupils play cricket in Games afternoons and have the opportunity to do tennis and athletics co-curricular clubs.
In the Autumn Term Rugby and Hockey are the main sports played. Pupils train for these once a week after School and in Games, as well taking part in Saturday fixtures in these sports. The second named sports (football and netball) will be trained once a week after School. This will swap in the Spring Term when football and netball are played as the main sports for the term. In Year 7 and Year 8 pupils can also sample practices in boys’ hockey and girls’ touch rugby.
AUTUMN TERM
Boys - Rugby / Football
Girls - Hockey / Netball
YEAR
SPRING TERM
Boys - Football / Rugby
Girls - Netball / Hockey
11 – YEAR 13 GAMES AND CO-CURRICULAR SPORT
SUMMER TERM
Boys - Cricket / Tennis / Athletics
Girls - Tennis / Athletics / Cricket
Pupils in our senior year groups (Year 11 - Year 13) are given the option of selecting from fourteen different activities in Games each term. There are competitive fixtures in fencing, football, hockey, netball, rugby, swimming and squash as well as tennis, athletics and cricket in the Summer Term. We also compete in fixtures for cross country, fencing, indoor hockey, rugby sevens, squash, and swimming throughout the School.
AUTUMN TERM
Boys - Rugby / Football
Girls - Hockey / Netball
SPRING TERM
Boys - Football / Rugby
Girls - Netball / Hockey
SUMMER TERM
All pupils - Cricket / Tennis / Athletics
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Sport at Freemen’s
WHAT DO PUPILS DO IN PE?
• All pupils Year 3 to Year 11 do PE once a week.
• In Year 3 and Year 4 pupils alternate between swimming and other activities, such as movement skills, ball skills, and athletics. As they move into Year 5 and Year 6 pupils work in four week blocks, covering similar activities to those covered in previous years.
• Higher up the school (Year 7 to Year 11) pupils continue to work in four week blocks of activity and cover nine different activities each year.
• Pupils also look at character strengths in all PE lessons in order to develop them as people.
HOW OFTEN DO PUPILS SWIM?
• In Year 3 and Year 4 pupils swim every week in PE, whilst in Year 5 and Year 6 pupils will swim in alternate weeks.
• In Year 7 and Year 8 they complete three 4 week blocks in the pool not only looking at swimming but Personal Survival and Water Polo. Pupils from Year 9 to Year 11 have one four week block in the pool.
• Outside of lessons the Year 3 and Year 4 pupils have one lunch me co-curricular session a week, and from Year 5 pupils have two swim squad sessions a week before School.
• Outside of lessons pupils in Year 5 upwards have one co-curricular swim squad session a week before School.
DO PUPILS HAVE TO PLAY SATURDAY SPORT?
• It is an expectation that pupils participate in Saturday sport from Year 7 upwards and we ask for 2 weeks’ notice if they cannot play.
• There are sometimes festivals for the pupils in Year 3 to Year 6 on Saturdays.
DO YOU HAVE SPECIALIST COACHING STAFF AT FREEMEN’S?
• We have experienced teaching staff in the department who are all passionate practitioners across a number of sports. They are complimented by a variety of exceptional coaching staff including coaching staff from Josh Evans soccer school, National Premier League coaches and players in hockey, Surrey Netball coach Alison Bennett and Surrey cricket coach Neil Stewart.
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